1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for informing a vehicle driver regarding the conditions of an upcoming passing maneuver.
2. Description of the Related Art
During passing maneuvers, it may occur that the passing vehicle's speed is only slightly higher than that of the vehicle being passed. For this reason, a passing maneuver may take a lot of time under certain circumstances. Such a situation occurs particularly frequently in the case of trucks. For this reason, the introduction of additional no passing zones for trucks has been discussed time and time again. In addition, such a situation also frequently occurs with passenger cars in countries in which there is also a general speed limit on expressways.
An information system for informing a vehicle driver regarding the properties of route sections of a travel route, which lie ahead of the vehicle from a vehicle location in the direction of travel, is known from published German patent application document DE 102 55 331 A1; this information system includes means for determining the vehicle location and includes means for determining the route sections of a travel route, which lie ahead of the vehicle from a vehicle location in the direction of travel, and means for determining the properties of the route sections, means for outputting the properties, or the information describing the properties, to the vehicle driver, this information system distinguishing itself in that the properties include properties of the route sections which are relevant for passing maneuvers. In this way, it is made possible that a vehicle driver is informed in due time regarding passing opportunities coming up on his/her route, thus allowing for an anticipatory and relaxed driving behavior of the vehicle driver which contributes to the general traffic safety.
In this information system known from the related art, only static conditions, namely future route properties, are considered. Dynamic conditions, such as other road users, are not considered.